Mauritania gives up Arabization
Mauritania, Politics, 4/9/1999

The Mauritanian Cabinet has ratified a draft law that provides for giving up Arabization and returns the Arabic language to its position which it used to occupy in the first year which followed the country's independence.

The Mauritanian parliament is expected to ratify the draft law in an extraordinary meeting to be held on Saturday (tomorrow).

The French language will come back strongly to the curricula system. It will be used as of secondary school and all subjects will be taught in French. Arabic will be kept as a compulsory language.

This was the situation after independence but with one difference which was that Arabic was not an obstacle before moving to the next school year if a student does not succeed in this topic.

The Arabic language has gone through various degrees of importance since the independence of Mauritania from France in 1960. It started as an optional language. In 1966 Arabic was taught as an official language in education and this decision resulted in ethnic confrontations between the Arabs and the African minorities.

In the 1970s Arabic language sections in the preparatory and secondary schools were opened. Most of students of these schools were graduates of the "schools for teaching the holy Koran" and most of the students chose the Arabic language sections.

The 1991 constitution has perpetuated Arabization as it stated that Arabic is the official language of the country and no mention was made then of the French language.

The recent decision to give up Arabization was a surprise for the people of Mauritania. The opposition has condemned this decision.

Previous Stories:
  Mauritanian opposition leader renews call to investigate Israeli waste   (4/2/1999)
  Morocco deplores Mauritanian official's statements on Sahara   (3/26/1999)

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